Download how to setup a VADAR project file

VADAR
Visual & Acoustic Detection and Ranging
at Sea
PROJECT SETTINGS
V ERSION 2.0.0
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Table of Contents
VADAR PROJECT FILES AND FOLDERS ................................................................................................................................... 3
START ING VADAR ......................................................................................................................................................................... 3
VADAR SURVEY FILES AND FOLDERS ....................................................................................................................................... 4
VADAR TRACK NAMES............................................................................................................................................................... 4
CHANGING PROJECT SETTIN GS ................................................................................................................................................ 5
EDIT PROJECT ................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
TIDES ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
DETERMINING STATION HEIGHT ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
CHANGING BEHAVIOUR SETTINGS ........................................................................................................................................... 8
EDIT BEHAVIOUR LIST .................................................................................................................................................................... 8
VADAR DATA FILES...................................................................................................................................................................... 9
VADAR MAP FILE......................................................................................................................................................................... 9
VADAR TIDE CHART FILE ............................................................................................................................................................ 11
SERIAL INPUT DEVICE SETU P ...................................................................................................................................................12
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VADAR PROJECT FILES AND FOLDERS
A unique set of project files must be created for each project; VADAR cannot run without these files. The Project
files will contain all the data that is needed to undertake a survey such as:
-
the station position and height
the reference target direction/ position
the type of instrument and settings
the layout of layers and associated behaviours
tidal information
vector data for displaying the map
etc.
The main VADAR project file will be called ‘NAME_01.VDR’ where ‘NAME’ will be 4 characters for the name of
your project. The vector map file will be called ‘NAME.MAP’.
All VADAR files need to be installed in one folder, including any project file s. There will be one or more project
files that have been created for your project. Once VADAR has been started it will load the latest project files and
display this information on the status bar at the bottom of the window.
You may wish to edit your project files before you start any surveys (see below), but this should only have to be
done once. One of the more important data that needs to be setup (and also one of the mor e difficult things to
be done) is establishing the settings for your survey instrument; VADAR will not be able to talk to your instrument
until these settings are correct (see Serial Input Device Setup).
It is most important that the time and Time Zone settings for your computer (Windows) are correct for your
region, otherwise tides and observations taken with GPS will have incorrect times.
S TARTING VADAR
Start VADAR by selecting it from the Programs menu or double click on the shortcut icon. Once started VADAR
will load the last project files that were used and display this in the status bar at the bottom of the window. See
the VADAR user manual on how to start a survey and take observations, etc.
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VADAR SURVEY FILES AND FOLDERS
VADAR will create at least two data output files for each survey that has been started. The main file has the
survey observation data and is known as the Survey file. The other contains the auxiliary data. The name structure
for the Survey and Auxiliary files are:
‘NAME_ss_yymmdd_ tt.VSF’
and
‘NAME_ss_yymmdd_ tt.VAF’
Where:
‘NAME’ is the project name (always 4 characters)
‘ss’ is the Survey number (usually ‘01’ except with networked projects)
‘yymmdd’ is the year, month and day
‘tt’ is the start time (nearest hour) of the survey (is always ‘01’ with network surveys).
The ‘VSF’ file is the survey file containing all records (observations) for the survey. The ‘VAF’ file is the auxiliary file
containing other information such as weather, start/stop survey times etc. All output survey files are stored in a
folder called ‘NAME’ which is created under the main folder containing the VADAR program.
VADAR TRACK NAMES
Each observation to a pod or vessel will be assigned to a Track number and name. VADAR will automatically name
new tracks when they are observed. Pod tracks are labelled A to Z (prefix is a space) then followed by 1A to 1Z,
then 2 A to 2Z, etc. Vessel Tracks are labelled <1 to <999. If VADAR determines that a new observation is to a new
track line it will give it the next available label, otherwise the observation will be assigned to an existing track. Any
incorrect labelling can be quickly fixed by editing the observed data. The track name for any pod or vessel can be
up to 10 characters (including any prefix). The name can be changed using the edit functions.
The names for track lines in other groups (layers) can have a prefix symbol at the front (see below).
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CHANGING PROJECT SETTINGS
EDIT PROJECT
The ‘Edit Project’ dialog box is broken into a number of sections. Each section has its own ‘Update’ button and
should be pressed once any changes. The ‘Update’ button can also be used to re-define some data once the field
has been cleared:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Calculate Latitudes and Longitudes using Easting, Northing and UTM zone.
Calculate Easting and Northing using Latitude, Longitude and UTM zone.
Calculate the Magnetic Declination based on the Latitude and Longitude (set to zero for true bearings).
Calculate Bearing to Reference Object (in # column) from Eastings, Northings and Magnetic Declination.
Load default Baud, Data bits, Parity and Stop Bits (clear the Scale/Baud column).
6.
Update the harmonic Tide parameters.
Insure that the correct UTM zone is selected.
The ‘Save’ button at the bottom should then be pressed to accept these changes.
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P R OJECT T ITLE ( TOP ).
Normally only the ‘Title’ may have to be changed. Ther e should be no need to change the Magnetic Declination or
Time Zone.
Note: The time zone is only used as a check; VADAR uses the Time Zone r eported by Windows as the real time
zone setting as this will also account for daylight savings. It is most important that the time and Time Zone
settings in Windows are correct, otherwise tides and observations taken with GPS will have incorrect times.
S TATI ON , V ESSEL , T ARGET I NF ORMATION ( TOP LEFT ).
The station height or instrument height may have to be changed; type the new values into these fields and press
the ‘Update’ button below. The Survey Station and Reference Object names can also be changed. Small changes
to the station position can also be made; type the new East/North or Latitude/Longitude position values into their
field, delete the other values (East/North or Latitude/Longitude ~ VADAR will calculate the missing values) and
press ‘Update’. The bearing to the Reference Object is shown in the ‘#’ field. The bearing can be typed in if the coordinates for the RO are not known, or clear this filed and press the ‘Update’ button to have VADAR calculate the
bearing. Always check these values to make sure they are correct.
G R OU PS /L AYERS ( TOP RIGHT ).
Data can be entered into a number of different Groups or Layers. Some Groups can be reserved for vessels or
special types of input. A symbol can also be added to the front of the names for track lines in any layer to help
easily identify these tracks on the map. If a symbol is used then there may be only 26 names available for this
layer (A to Z). The star symbol (*) should be used if no prefix symbol is required and this also allows for more
track names (A to Z, then 1 A to 1Z, etc.). A default speed and course can also be set for mammals/vessels in each
Group. Use a course of ‘0.0’ if no default is required (but do not use ‘0.0’ for northwards movement; use ‘1.0’
instead). Default track behaviour for each group can also be set. Use the ‘Update’ button to update these values.
I/O S YS TEMS ( BOTTOM LEFT ).
Each VADAR project can have 5 or more Input/Output systems. The number of I/O systems shown will depend on
the type of VADAR licence used. The first 2 types are keyboard and/or file input. These may include compass
binocular observations; the scale of the r eticules within the binoculars must be put in ‘Scale’ field, but this can be
done by first picking the ‘Model’ of the binoculars then clearing the ‘Scale’ field and pressing the ‘Update’ button.
The next 2 inputs (3 and 4) are reserved for serial inputs from electronic theodolites, electronic compass, GPS and
AIS etc. The communications port number must be entered into the ‘Port#’ field. Once the ‘Model’ name for the
instrument is picked and the ‘Baud’ and ‘Data Bits’ etc. fields are cleared then pressing the ‘Update’ button will
have VADAR fill in the default values for these. The ‘Test#3’ and ‘Test#4’ buttons can be used to allow VADAR to
try and determine which communication ports are available. BUT the baud rate etc. may still be incorrect and
VADAR may report some ports available which in fact it may not be available (for more detail see the ‘Serial
Import Device’ setup at the end of this document). The fifth data (time int.) for theodolites may be used as a
horizontal offset if the bearing to the Refer ence Target is to be set to 0.0 °; in this case put the magnetic (or true)
bearing to the Reference Target in this space as well (decimal degrees).
More I/O systems are available for cameras etc.
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T I D E D ATA ( B OTTOM RIGHT ).
The harmonic tide data is generated when a new VADAR project is created. This data cannot be changed except
for the ‘Mean Tide Value’ and ‘Tide Time Lag’ parameters (see the tide section for more information).
TIDES
The tide values are shown both on the window title bar (current tide value) and on the information title dialog
(tide at time of observation).
VADAR will normally calculate the tide heights continuously based on the tide parameters for the job. These
parameters are determined for open ocean areas around the globe and are usually of sufficient accuracy needed
for theodolite tracking. These tide heights are computed as oscillations from mean sea level and therefor e can be
either a positive or negative value. Tide charts usually have all tides shown as positive numbers. Therefor e,
VADAR adds a correction value (mean tide value) to the computed values so that they can be comparable to the
values shown in tide charts. But the correction value (mean tide height) may only be an estimated value and can
be in error; which may appear as a shift between the VADAR tide values and those displayed in tide charts, but
values used by VADAR will be correct. Any small error in the tide heights can be adjusted by changing the ‘mean
tide’ value. A time lag value can also be entered if there is a time difference between the VADAR computed tide
heights and the tide chart values. This may occur in places where the survey area is some distance from open
ocean waters.
The value of these two tide parameters can be deter mined by comparing the VADAR predicted tide height to that
from local tide charts over a number of days. Tide charts normally show the times for the low and high tides along
with the tide height. Dummy ‘additional observations’ can be entered into VADAR; changing the observation time
to equal the times for the low and high tides. Compare the VADAR tide values with that of the tide charts. The
‘mean tide’ value in the Project Edit Dialog can be adjusted so that there is a minimal difference between the tide
chart values and the VADAR value (adjust this value by the mean difference between the two). The time lag value
can also be adjusted by finding the exact time of low/high tide in VADAR; by entering a number of dummy
‘additional observations’ at about 15 minute intervals either side of the low/high tide time. Add a time lag factor
(decimal hours) if the time of the VADAR low/high tide is different than the tide charts.
However for surveys done in areas where these tide parameters cannot be deter mined, or in areas of unusual or
very high tide fluctuations the tide heights can be input by means of tide charts. This file must be built from
information obtained from tide charts (high and low tide times) over the period of the survey. Usually this
information is available on the internet. The tide times shown in the table must be on local time, the same time
system that is running on the computer running VADAR (that is they should be both on daylight savings if
required). Refer to the Tide Chart file below.
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DETERMINING STATION HEIGHT
The Station height can be calculated using a technique known as trigonometric levelling. This uses a known
distance and height of a target to calculate the station height using vertical angles measured to the target.
Corrections for tides, earth curvature, refraction and instrument height are all included. The position of a target
at sea level (height = 0.0m + tide) must be measured using GPS and you must insure that the VCIC has been
determined for the instrument.
Select ‘Station Height’ from the N ew Obs. menu. Type in the East and North co-ordinates (or latitude and
longitude) for the target in the first two fields. Type the Face Left vertical reading (just over 90 degrees) as
DDD.MMSS in the ‘Vertical Angle’ field. Make sure the time for the observations is also correct and press ‘OK’.
The height of the survey station will be shown in the status bar.
This procedure should be repeated for a few different targets at different times of the day (to account for
differential refraction) to obtain an accurate station height. The project file can be edited to set the new value for
the station height (Changing Project Settings).
CHANGING BEHAVIOUR SETTINGS
EDIT BEHAVIOUR LIST
VADAR allows up to 104 (26 x 4) behaviours to be pre-defined. The table lists all of these behaviours; 26 rows (A
to Z) by 4 columns (1 to 4 alternatives). You can simply change the list to suit the behaviours for your project.
Each row (letter) should characterize the behaviour; such as B = Blow, Breach, Back and Belly Up. Each of the
behaviours also has a Behaviour Activity Level (BAL) associated with it; this is a score of 0 to 10 of the level of
activity for each behaviour, which can be used in later analysis.
VADAR also has a short cut list (presently a total of 30) of the most commonly used behaviours. These are
arranged in groups of 10 (1 to 10 in first group, 11 to 20 in second, etc.); r efer to the User Manual. Each group
may be organised so that they are meaningful; for example the first group may be behaviours for the species
listed in layer 1, and the third group may have behaviours for vessels., etc.
The last 4 columns are the behaviours that are assigned to this short cut list (1 to 30). For example if you wish to
assign the 3rd behaviour for row B (‘Back’) to be the first in the list then put a ‘1’ (one) in ‘LIST 3’ row B, etc.
More information about editing behaviours can be found in the VADAR User Manual.
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VADAR DATA FILES
VADAR MAP FILE
NAME.MAP
Where:
‘NAME’ is the project name (always 4 characters)
Background graphics data are found in the *.MAP file. The file is a text file which can be edited using a program
such as ‘notepad’. The VADAR Map file is a graphics vector file containing background map data (points, lines,
polygons and text). Vector files are loaded into memory when VADAR is started and therefore should improve the
speed of the graphics within the program. It is an ASCII text file, similar to a DXF file (Data Exchange File). The
basic structure for the file is a header line followed by 2 or more lines of data, then followed by the next header
line, etc.
The Header lines can be:
LINE
CONTOUR
POLYGON
TEXT
POINT
ZONE
The first line of data after the header is usually information describing the colour, size and type for the header
feature. The next lines are normally a list of coordinates for each point located on the feature. The data field can
be separated with spaces, tabs or commas. The types of data can be:
IR
~ red component of feature colour [integer: 0 to255]
IG
~ green component of feature colour [integer: 0 to 255]
IB
~ blue component of feature colour [integer: 0 to 255]
IT
~ thickness or size of feature [integer: 1 or greater]
IS
~ style of feature [integer: 1 or greater]
x
~ X coordinate (East(m) or Latitude (decimal degrees)) [real, decimal number]
y
~ Y coordinate (North(m) or Longitude (decimal degrees)) [real, decimal number]
h
~ height coordinate (metres) [real, decimal number]
text
~ text [up to 40 characters]
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The structure for each feature is:
LINE
IR, IG, IB, IT, IS
(IT=line thickness, IS = line style (1=continuous))
x, y
x, y
….. etc.
CONTOUR
IR, IG, IB, IT, IS, h (IT=line thickness, IS = line style (1=continuous))
x, y
x, y
….. etc.
POLYGON
IR, IG, IB, IT, IS
(IT=line thickness, IS = poly fill style (1=solid fill))
x, y
x, y
….. etc.
TEXT
IR, IG, IB, IT, IS
(IT=character height, IS =1)
x, y
text
POINT
IR, IG, IB, IT, IS
(IT=symbol height, IS = symbol type; 1=’+’, 2=’x’, 3=’□’, 4=’∆’, etc)
x, y, h
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ZONE
IR, IG, IB, IT, IS
(IT=line thickness, IS = poly fill style (1=solid fill))
x, y
x, y
….. etc.
VADAR TIDE CHART FILE
NAME_TIDES.CSV
Where:
‘NAME’ is the project name (always 4 characters)
The tide chart file contains the date and time for each high and low tide covering the period of the survey. The
tide times shown in the file must be on local time, the same time system as on the computer running VADAR (that
is they should be both on daylight savings if required). The file format is CSV (comma separated variable) which
can be created in Excel but saved as a CSV. There are 5 columns of data which should be separated by commas or
spaces:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Day
(1 to 31)
Month (1 to 12)
Year
(2012, etc.)
Time
(either decimal hours or DDMM in 24 hour format)
High/Low tide value (in metres)
Example:
How the data may look in Excel:
24,8,2012,350,2.48
24,8,2012,940,6.4
24,8,2012,1641,1.47
24,8,2012,2256,6.08
25,8,2012,437,3.1
25,8,2012,1017,5.84
25,8,2012,1735,1.89
26,8,2012,2,5.62
In this case the time is in ‘HHMM’ so for example 350 is 3:50am, and 1641 is 16:41 (or 4:41 pm). Ther efore there
th
is a low tide of 2.48m at 3:50am on the 24 August, 2012.
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SERIAL INPUT DEVICE SETUP
One of the mor e difficult tasks is to get a serial input device setup and communicating with VADAR. Most devices
such as theodolites, GPS, electronic compass and AIS use the old serial port (15 pin D plugs) for communications.
This system has been replaced with USB (Universal Serial Bus), and now only a few computers have serial ports
although most of the instruments still communicate with the old serial port system. Ther e are a number of steps
that need to be carried out to get any serial communication device working properly:
1.
Setting up the instrument to use serial communications.
Theodolites, GPS, electronic compass and AIS devices must be setup for serial communications. Different
brands of theodolites and electronic compass will have their own standards for serial communications. GPS
and AIS will use standard protocols such as NEMA. Use the instruments manual and setup procedures to
insure the instrument is setup for serial communications and note down the default baud rate, parity and
data bits being used (e.g. 4800, 8,1, even ~ 4800 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit and even parity).
2a. Setting up the serial port connection.
Most old computers and some of the newer ones have a serial port connector (15 pin D shaped plugs). These
serial ports will be assigned ports #1 and #2. Most theodolites and GPS etc. can be directly connected to the
computer through this plug.
2b. Setting up serial communications on the computer using USB.
A ‘Serial to USB’ converter can be used to get a serial comms port device connected via the computers USB
plug. This will involve setting up the conver ter using its install software. A device driver will be installed on
the windows system and each time the converter is plugged into the computers USB socket Windows will see
the connec tion as a serial port device (not a USB) and a serial port number will be assigned to the connection.
Sometimes the driver software may report the por t number assigned (but usually not). Different USB sockets
will be assigned different serial port numbers.
3.
Determine the serial port number.
The serial port connection will be assigned a port number (1 to about 20 or more). A serial port connection
(2a) will be assigned a number from 1 to 4; usually 1 and/or 2, as most computers will only have one serial
port, if any. But often if ther e is only one physical serial port connection if may be assigned as either port 1 or
2, which ever gets used first, but it may appear as if there are 2 serial ports available when in fact ther e is
only one. A serial to USB converter (2b) will be assigned a number from 1 onwards (usually from 5 to about
16, as ports 1 to 4 may be reserved for serial ports on the PC). BUT often there will be no direct indication of
what the serial port number is assigned to each USB connection, and therefor e this port number must be
determined:
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a) Open the Windows ‘System Properties’ menu by:
- Click on ‘Start’ on the Windows task bar, and then click on ‘Control Panel’ and then double click on ‘System’,
or …
- Right click on ‘My Computer’ and then click on ‘Properties’.
b) Open the device manager:
- Click on the ‘Hardware’ tab and then click on ‘Device Manager’. Or just click on ‘Device Manager’.
c) Expand the ‘Ports (COM & LPT)’ item:
- click on the ‘+’ next to ‘Ports (COM & LPT)’.
All the serial COMS ports should now be listed, along with their port number (COM1 to COM##). You can now
also right click on each device and get its properties. Find the port COM number to be used for your
instrument but the ‘Serial to USB’ converters will have to be already plugged in for this to work. Also make
sure the software driver for the port is working; sometimes the port icon may have warning symbol (yellow
triangle) on it, indicating there is a problem.
In this example the USB to Serial connector has been assigned to COM3 but so has another device. The
yellow warning symbol on the USB-to-Serial port means that it will not function properly.
NOTE: VADAR can only use communication ports 1 to 9, therefore if the USB to serial converter has assigned
a port number higher than 9 you can try another USB socket, or the COM number can be changed to another
number (usually 3 to 9) using the device manager.
4.
Setting up Serial Device in VADAR.
Start VADAR and open up the project file details (‘Project’ > ‘Edit Project’). The I/O systems information box
is at the bottom left. Devices #3 and #4 are reserved for serial input devices.
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5.
Error Messages
“Cannot CONNECT to Comms Port #”
This means that the Comms Port number does not exist (has not been assigned by Windows). This could
mean that the ‘Serial to USB’ converter is not plugged in or the incorrect port number is assigned in VADAR.
“Cannot OPEN Comms Port #”
This means that another program already has control of this Comms Port. The program could be VADAR itself
(one of the pr evious devices is using the same port), Windows or some other program. Sometimes Windows
may see a device, such as a GPS, as a mouse and take control of that devices serial port (you may see the
mouse moving randomly on the screen in this case). It is better to start VADAR first so that it has control of
the comms ports before the device is plugged in. Programs such as ‘ActiveSync’ will also take control of all
serial ports and USB connections, and in this case the serial comms port control will then have to be disabled
in ‘ActiveSync’ so VADAR can use it. Another program may have control of the serial port and will have to be
shutdown (this may be shown in the Windows System Properties – see above).
“Cannot get SET Comms Port State #”
This means that the VADAR cannot take control of the Comms port. This could mean that the ‘Serial to USB’
driver is not working properly; a yellow triangle will be placed on the COM icon in Device Manager.
Caution: Sometimes Comms Port numbers 1 and 2 may both be assigned to the one physical Comms port (if
there is only one serial port on the computer). Only port 1 or 2 can be used, not both. Ports 1 and 2 should
not be assigned to a USB to serial input.
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